Appearing as a guest on other podcasts and blogs offers an opportunity for me to discuss many important issues. Kevin McShan invited me to join Let’s Have This Conversation to explore Neurodiversity, parenting, and education. Multimedia Journalist and Motivational Speaker Kevin McShan brings you a multi-faceted and multi-dimensional YouTube Podcast called…
Tag: awareness
Autism Awareness Day is April 2, and April is Autism Awareness Month. The day and month are a big deal for Autism Speaks and the Autism Society of America. Normally, these organizations receive a lot of media attention. In response, some autistic-led groups are usually asked for comment and some…
The first autistic lawyer in… The first autistic actor to… The first autistic scientist specializing in… The first autistic…. The moment I read that phrase, I know the rest of the story is sloppy journalism and probably inspiration porn — those feel-good stories about how amazing it is that “someone…
And here we are again… Autism Awareness Day. My Apple News, Facebook, and Google News feeds all feature a dozen or more stories on autism, from the Struggling Parent profile to the Amazing Aspie interview. There are also familiar names in the media stories, the known people from the autistic…
It’s apparently that time of year when we’re expected to increase awareness of autism (which I forgot until Apple posted a video). Yeah, because the millions spent by Autism Speaks, the proliferation of puzzle pieces and ribbons, the endless public service announcements on Internet radio feeds, the countless feel-good “news”…
I understand that holiday fundraising is a tradition. “Here’s a cute child. You care about children. Send us money.” At the end of every year, I receive dozens of emails from autism advocacy groups. The higher-end email newsletters from Generation Rescue and Autism Speaks offer “hope” for a cure… someday.…
April compels me to offer my standard reaction to Autism Awareness (Day | Month) and a short thought or two. Reaction: Blah. Thought: Great. We get to endure a month of “inspirational” (sarcasm quotes) stories on families raising autistic children, a few successful autistics will be profiled, and then people…
Ribbons and wristbands are a fairly poor way to indicate interest in a cause. When there is a dedicated color of ribbon or wristband for every issue or cause, none of the rainbow matters. A chest full of ribbons, aligned in some proto-military fashion, seems ludicrous. So, one more ribbon…